Twenty-eight deaths were reported when
the barque Punjaub reached Lyttelton from London on September, 1873 and eight more deaths
occurred after the passengers were sent into quarantine at Ripa Island. She had on board
340 immigrants, 200 being British and 112 Danish. Typhus, measles, and other complaints
took off 21 of the Danes and seven of the English passengers, and typhoid was still rife
when port was reached, hence the health authorities had no option but to send the ship
into quarantine. The eight deaths that occurred on the island brought the total to 36,
which was a very high figure, even for those days, when ships were so crowded and
sanitation was not well understood. The Punjaub had a fine weather passage as far as Cape
Leeuwin, up to which point she made quite good time, but within 300 miles of New Zealand
she struck a severe gale, which delayed her. It was the same gale which blew the steamer
Claud Hamilton and other vessels off the New Zealand coast and did considerable damage.Source White Wings - Sir Henry Brett